5th Sunday of Easter (B)
1st week, Psalter
Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal May-June 2021
In today's Gospel, Jesus reveals to us the profound union we are called to live in with him; to help us understand it, he uses the image of the vine and the branches. He himself is the true vine, and the Father is the gardener who tends it. We, his disciples, and therefore the Church, are the branches that receive their life from him, the “sap” of the Holy Spirit. But how do we remain in Christ? We remain united to Jesus if we let his words enter our hearts, if we meditate on the Gospel, seeking to live it in our daily lives.
FIRST READING
From the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:26-31)
In those days, Saul came to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and told them how, on his journey, he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. Thus he was able to stay with them, moving freely in Jerusalem and preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the Church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord and, with the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the First Reading
This passage from the Acts of the Apostles, in addition to bearing witness to the apostolic and missionary strength of the first Christians, does not conceal a certain irony. Indeed, only after they “sent the fiery orator who was Paul off to Tarsus” was “the Church ... at peace.” Paul is one of those “inconvenient” figures, and if we look carefully, we can find many of them within the Church as well. Francis of Assisi, who calls us back to poverty; Catherine of Siena, who warns of the danger of entanglement with political power; Don Bosco, who helps young people rediscover their dignity and their belonging to the Church; and many other witnesses from yesterday and today. The Church is the Bride of Christ and, as such, is without blemish; but it is made up of sinful men and women and therefore requires continual reform. There is, however, an enormous difference between Saint Francis of Assisi, who does everything possible so that the Gospel may be lived in a more authentic and profound way, and, for example, Luther: in his attitude and manner of communicating, the latter places himself outside the Church by his own actions. Let us ask ourselves: are we inside or outside the Church?
SECOND READING
From the first letter of Saint John the apostle (1 John 3:18-24)
Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments remains in God and God in him. And by this we know that he remains in us: by the Spirit that he has given us. The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Second Reading
“Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth.” In these years, the Italian and European Church has been rethinking how faith is transmitted, how catechesis is conducted, and how people prepare to receive the sacraments. Debates and conferences are organized, and bishops and episcopal conferences gather for days on end. Since Confirmation had become the sacrament of saying goodbye to young people, who were not seen again until their wedding, someone thought of reversing the order of Confirmation and First Communion; the result was to change the sequence but not the effect. In fact, now they do not even come back for marriage. But could it be that we are getting everything wrong, focusing exclusively on words, speech, homilies, and catechetical techniques... and not on the supreme fact of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery? Perhaps before opening our mouths, we should spend many hours listening to the wounds and sufferings of the men and women of our time and our lands.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John (John 15:1-8)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he cuts away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; then they gather it, throw it into the fire, and it is burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you. In this my Father is glorified: that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” - The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the Day
“I am the vine; you are the branches.” “Remain in me, and I in you.” An extraordinary and unsurpassable appeal. Life that moves and stirs us. Overwhelming wonder before the initiative of a God who lives in us. The gift is there and is complete; the response is ours. If we rely only on our own strength, on our egocentric and individualistic “I,” we will inevitably fall into rationalism (trying to contain all the wonders of the universe within our reason), moralism (feeling continually guilty for failing to reach a perfection arbitrarily decided by us), sentimentalism (committing ourselves, praying, and living as Christians only when our hearts beat strongly), and idealism (the worst danger, because we would want to worship an idea or an ideal invented by us rather than according to the words and gestures of Jesus). And then there are many other dangers. If, instead, we surrender to love and let ourselves be loved, the Father's love can live in us through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. “Remaining” in Christ and allowing Christ to “remain” in us transforms all of daily existence, the faith, hope, and charity of each day in the family, at work, among friends, in the parish, and in associations.
